A Cupid's Story
by Kagomaru
Summary: Hatake Kakashi; skilled ninja, beloved sensei, international man of mystery, and soon to be victim of one very poorly aimed arrow?


Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto or any of its characters, that right is reserved for Masashi Kishimoto.

Here's a little tidbit that I've had on my computer for (no kidding) three years. I finally got around to editing it and now I'm submitting it for your approval. Hopefully it's as sweet as chocolate for those of you who like sweets, but not so sweet that those of you who prefer dark chocolate are turned away…

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

XOXOXOXOXO

**A Cupid's Story **

It would have been hard to miss Uzumaki Naruto on the darkest, dreariest of days. With his golden blonde hair and ten-kilowatt smile, in the sunlight he was luminescent. He was also an idiot.

It wasn't so much the fact that he had picked a fight, or even that the person he had picked a fight with was his (obviously skilled) jounin sensei that made me believe this; but the fact that he kept shouting things like: "I'll beat you this time Kaka-sensei, dattebayo!" Or, "Someday I'll be the one teaching you, dattebayo!"

Seriously, who talks like that?

…But maybe that's a _bad_ place to begin this story; after all, you don't even know who I am yet! So here's the deal, you know all those stories about the Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, Cupid, and Santa Clause? Yeah, they're all real.

Well, real-ish. I mean, who writes these stories? Do you really think that one fat man in a red suit could visit _every_ house with a Christmas tree in one night? No. Actually it takes thousands… but really that's beside the point, cause I'm not a Santa. I'm a Cupid.

Now, you can choose to believe me or not; but the _truth_ is that of all the Cupids out there I, Cupid 0072, am the best. And I don't mean in the sense that all the other cupids suck either, I mean that I am _good._ I am the _only_ Cupid with a perfect record, no misses in 20 years. And sure, there may have been some close calls; like that one time when I sneezed and the only reason the arrow hit its intended target was because the guy got up and walked right into the path of my arrow- but really that's beside the point. Because I'm not here to brag, I'm here to tell it like it is.

This is how it works: I'm given the name of the person I am to aim my arrow at and an arrow engraved with the name of the person whose heart it contains. (Don't ask me how we get it in there in the first place- that's up to the guys over in CTD- aka: Cupid Tools and Development.) I aim, I shoot, and the person whose name is engraved on the arrow falls in love with the person the arrow hits. So what happens when the arrow hits the wrong person, you ask?

C.H.A.O.S. otherwise known as: Cleansing Humans Attracted Offensively Services... And avoiding those guys is what has led me here today; but let me start at the beginning.

It all began January 31st in the village of Konoha. It was a lovely winter morning, though warm in the way of places close to the equator; and my target was in my sights.

Now as I said earlier, Uzumaki Naruto was impossible to miss. This was a standard aim and shoot job; but just as I was pulling back the taught string of my bow and taking aim at the blonde, the arrow _jumped_ from my hands. On any other day, with any other target I would have chased the thing and grabbed it before it could hit someone or _something_ else, but the only thing in its path was my target- so I let it fly… Have I mentioned that I'm a bit of a cocky idiot?

When it was halfway there the brat's sensei, Hatake Kakashi, lunged forward to pin Uzumaki's arms behind his back and put himself right into the arrow's path. For a moment I saw my career flash before my eyes, my spotless record forever blotted! And just when I was sure everything was over Uzumaki broke free and Hatake was sent reeling. I was ready to sing for joy, all my worst nightmares were about to be consigned back to dream land-and then it happened.

In mid air, the arrow veered; turning from Uzumaki with no more care than for a passing speck of dust and heading straight for his completely unsuspecting sensei. I couldn't even move, I was so horror struck that the only thought going through my head was, "No, no, NO!"

I imagine that when watching an accident or disaster humans are captured by the sounds of squealing car breaks or the fierce glow of a consuming fire, but we don't get any of that. Cupids don't drive, and so naturally don't have car accidents; and things that _do_ kill humans _don't_ kill us. So maybe you can understand when I say that this was the most terrifying moment of my life- I mean it.

Hatake of course didn't even have the grace to act affected since, like most humans, he didn't have the least notion of what had just taken place. So there I am, staring like an idiot at my worst nightmare come to life, and I know what I'm _supposed_ to do, but I don't do it.

Regulations state that all mistakes and/or accidents must be reported immediately to prevent long-term damage, but I didn't make the call.

I could clearly envision C.H.A.O.S. all over the place. CTD guys trying to extract the poor girl's heart that had just given itself to the wrong man, the nerds studying every centimeter of the arrow for what had gone wrong. The investigation's units breathing down my neck about why I had done _nothing_ to stop this… I couldn't do it; I couldn't bring myself to throw away my perfect record because of a defective arrow.

I'm not sure what made me do what I did next, but after watching the two idiots go back to fighting as if nothing had happened, I couldn't think of anything else to do. It was pure luck that I had remembered the girl's name.

After one (very awkward) attempt to look through a human phone book without getting caught turning the pages, I was able to find her. Haruno Sakura.

Before or since that day I have never met her equal.

Sakura turned out to be an 18-year-old medical prodigy who, despite still living with her parents, was already a tokubetsu jounin level medic well on her way to being a full jounin. I found her writing a research paper in her home office, and within minutes, I knew why my arrow had veered. Sitting next to her computer in an oval shaped picture frame sat a picture of her and Hatake grinning like children.

I suppose that had one of the younger Cupids like 0264 or even 0101 been in my place they might have decided that the whole episode had really just been a case of misfiled paperwork, but they haven't spent enough time in the field.

In my time I've seen arrows break mid-flight, intended targets dodge at the last second as if sensing impending doom; I've seen men receiving a woman's heart suddenly have the courage to ask her out, and I've seen women receiving a man's heart ignore his existence for the rest of their lives- we cannot _predict_ outcomes, we can only hope to make a difference. But even I was young once, and I didn't see the whole truth.

I can't decide if it's more funny or sad how I've let this one episode change the course of my whole life, but it's true. I've followed these humans around like a lost pet, broken into sealed records, and even read Sakura's own personal diary in my quest for answers. I suppose that I shouldn't complain that I still seem to know so little, after all, there are some things you just don't write down; but this is what I _do_ know.

Haruno Sakura met Hatake Kakashi when she was a scrawny twelve year-old. Their eyes took in one another for the course of a day that should have been a happy one, and neither was impressed. Hatake saw a spoilt little girl who cared more about her hair than her jutsu, and Sakura saw a prematurely graying twenty-six year-old who probably cared more about hurting people than she did about anything at all. They were both wrong; but neither of them would know how much for almost five years.

Like most girls, Sakura had her heart broken early by a young man who cared little if at all about her feelings for him; but unlike most she didn't simply cry and move on- she trained. After that she didn't talk to her mother about nice boys or handsome Sasuke-kun, didn't ask her father for pretty rings or civilian dresses. She studied.

One time I found a home picture in her parents' collection of Sakura reading a book (about the connection between a person's physical and mental health) while sitting on a park bench in the middle of a family reunion. She was thirteen at the time…

Her father came up with the idea that she should take extra taijutsu lessons, stating, "It's all well and good to be a medic Sakura, but a nin of Konoha should always strive for more." And thus Hatake became her sensei once more, after the whole world had already fallen apart and before it had a chance to fully stitch itself back together.

As far as I can tell, there were no 'special moments' between them during that time. Hatake never saved Sakura from would-be kidnappers, and Sakura never transformed over-night into the woman of his dreams. But as they trained they began to learn more about each other.

It began with Sakura making bento for after training, with Hatake letting down his guard enough to eat his with her (even if it was with them sitting back-to-back so she couldn't see his face). They opened up to each other like that, leaning against one another and saying things they might not have if they had been face-to-face.

She didn't try to like him, never even _thought_ to love him- but it snuck up on her. One day it began pouring rain during their practice and Hatake slipped just enough that as he was pinning her to the ground he fell flush against her and for almost a full minute they lay there panting. Her hands were pinned above her head and hit nose was inches from her own. The seconds passed with them staring into each others eyes, seeing something only they can know- Sakura's journal didn't say… but in the moment when he gently stood and helped her to her feet there was an electric current between their hands and Sakura's heart stopped.

I won't dispute the obvious dramatization of the scene, but my vision of it comes from the diary of a teenager newly in love after all. So take it with a grain of salt if you wish, what is significant is that this was the moment she realized what it was she truly wanted- a partner. A person who would laugh with her and fight with her and respect her enough to tell her like it is while still being courteous enough to help her to her feet after causing her to fall.

…That page in her diary has tear stains smearing the ink and_, _a prayer written at the bottom.

Even now I have no real idea how we cupids decide who is to love whom, but I think that in Sakura's case- someone was attempting to answer her prayers. "Kami-sama, please, save me… I never wanted to love anyone but Sasuke-kun, for so long I could do nothing but long for a man far out of my reach but Kami-sama, Kakashi-sensei is even further. Can't I love someone closer to me? Someone who will love me without reservation or agenda? … Kami-sama, Naruto's a good guy right? Can't I look at him and see what he sees when he looks at me? Can't I make us both happy?"

…I still look in on her from time to time, but from that first night I knew that there was nothing I could do to help her. Sakura is an extraordinary rarity in my line of work; she loves Hatake completely, truly.

It is our first, last, and most important dictate that _no_ Cupid may interfere with True Love, though really just because it's pointless to try. The arrow will find its true mark, regardless of the will of either involved. So instead of looking for ways to cover my 'mistake,' I found myself watching _her_ instead.

Loved by Uzumaki Naruto since the young age of ten, she tried her best from the day she fell in love with Hatake to love Uzumaki instead. She _tried_ to love him. They went on dates, spent time really getting to know each other, growing to respect each other for more than their way of the ninja; but her _heart_ remained Hatake's- the only man who could just make her smile without even trying, who could beat her in a training session but never look down on her, one of her closest friends...

Now, maybe it would be kind to let you believe that when Hatake received Sakura's heart something changed, they became closer, she told him she loved him, he saw her for the woman she had become; but I can't tell you that. Life is complicated, and beautiful, and messy. Sakura didn't marry Uzumaki Naruto- she didn't marry Hatake. From the moment her arrow hit him, Haruno Sakura was tied irrevocably to Hatake Kakashi… and for the last two years I have watched...

I'm old enough now to wonder; did anything I do for the last 20 years _matter_?

Tonight I look through her window and wonder what her life would have been like if I had somehow chased her arrow, if I had gotten it to its intended target… I _know_ that it would have eluded me and gone to Hatake regardless, but I'm fool enough to wish I could do _something_ for her.

I'm fool enough to _try_…

I pull back the string of my bow and take aim at the last target I will ever have. I have lied and broken countless rules to be the one holding this arrow, to be the one whose judgment it will ultimately be left to should the arrow not fly true. Hatake Kakashi's heart is in my hands, and his target is in my sight.

I have seen arrows fly true, I have seen arrows curve in mid-air, I have seen men step _into_ their destiny, and I have seen them run screaming in the opposite direction; but I have never missed. I am Cupid 0072, the best cupid to ever take aim- on record I am perfect. My arrows have always found their true marks, and this one will be no different.

I take a deep breath and close my eyes as I let my arrow fly. Have the last 20 years of my life meant _anything_?

I hope so.


End file.
